Alabama cleanup

u
Alabama Cleanup
Gov. Wallace Strives To Win National Respect
As He Awaits School Segregation Showdown;
Industry Should Be Attracted
Burt Schorr In The Wall Street Journal
MONTGOMERY, ALA. already has managed
J^ SYMBOL of change in Alabama:
A small, empty room in the offices of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, administrator of the stats
liquor monopoly.
. formerly contained
distillers marketing their products
in Alabama. Over the ABC's 26-year
history, this free booze flowed stead
squeeze
savings for taxpayers from
firms doing business with the state.
Consider these examples:
A company with a current contract
to supply around $1,000,000 of tires
for state vehicles recently agreed
with purchasing officials of the
ij„, , j.„(.,.;u„f i wnn purcnasing oinciais ui me new
Ki^M, administration that its price, ought
to c
ABC oSiclato legators and" hauI bottled foods from the ABC
"frienc^of0"1^
newly-appointed ABC Board banned »J 'o,7 reduced h'
Similar departures from precedent
have been shaking this birthplace of
the Confederacy ever since hard-
talking George C. Wallace took office
as governor in January.
Gov. Wallace's national reputation,
largely on his oratory
reduced his bid 1
lut another trucke
out with a still lower bid of 12.36e
a case, yielding an estimated annual
saving of $43,000.
A CURB ON YACHTING
Down at the state docks in Mo-
ile, one of the two well-appointed
to behallf o7"state?CrYghts 'and" white state /acthts has. been sold ai?d *ne
supremacy. During his campaign, he fc°nd /tripped 'or ""
repeatedly called a local federal judge b?at^„ "
who ordered voting records turned ?r *li"'
over to the Civil Rights Commission, ,nt
integrating, scalawagging,
a harbor
estimated annual saving
n operating costs. The
joy ride is also over for Alabama
officials who turned up regularly at
petbagging liar." And he continues football games and
to pledge that he will personally defy '"
court-ordered desegregation of publicly-supported educational institutions, even at the risk of federal ar-
For Alabamians, however,
short, cigar-smoking chief
seems to be the antidote for the
wheeling and dealing which so often
have marked past administrations in
this state.
Change Is needed in Alabama, Gov.
Wallace tells intimates, in order to
win national public support for the
showdown with the federal government on school desegregation, a
showdown that seems likely to come
during his administration. "We have
to keep our house in order," he says.
"The eyes of the country are going
to be on us with this federal thing
coming up." Though the Birmingham anti-segregation demonstrations
aren't what he has in mind, they
already are bringing the state some
national attention.
ADVICE TO CONTRACTORS
At the same time, it would be
unfair to ignore Gov. Wallace's personal interest in a cleanup here.
Even political enemies concede his
insistence on honesty at all levels
of state government is more than a
maneuver. Though some Alabamians
profess confidence the Alabama spoils
system will again flourish, a powerful legislator insists Gov. Wallace
tells campaign supporters seeking favored contracts with the state,
/You'll get the work—if you're low
bidder." When supporters protest, the
Governor reportedly advises them to
consider their campaign aid "a contribution to good government."
This attitude allegedly differs from
that of some past administrations.
Whether such allegations are true
or not, the Wallace administration
in their state autos; Gov, Wallace
has cracked down on such abuses and
furthermore ordered 1,000 of the
state's approximately 4,000 autos sold.
The Governor's campaign undoubtedly has won him new friends in
Birmingham and North Alabama industrial counties where voter opposition was strongest. "He has my
support on everything he's done,"
says a Birmingham oil firm executive who voted for the Governor's
opponent. "He,s carried through on
his promises so far, particularly with
regard to cutting down on unnecessary spending."
Even so, it would be dangerous to
predict public opinion of the Wallace administration four years hence.
"It's a fact of Alabama politics that
the governor is always more popular
in the first two years of his term
than the second," observes one veteran state house reporter.
For evidence of how a governor
may lose admirers, Gov. Wallace has
the recent example of his predecessor, John Patterson, whose last year
in office was marked by some embarrassing developments.
GRAND JURY REPORT
Foremost was the disclosure that
the state paid a Montgomery firm
$1,000,000 for highway striping while
nine state-owned highway marking
rigs stood idle. The striping payment
rate was estimated at three times the
striping cost of neighboring Mississippi, where state employes do the
work. Furthermore, the striping contractor owned no striping equipment,
but subcontracted nearly all the job
to another firm at around half the
price it was charging the state.
"From the evidence before us," reported a Montgomery County grand
jury which later indicted the prime
contractor for state income tax
evasion, "we are convinced that ap
proximately half a million dollars of
the taxpayers' funds have been paid
to individuals who performed
service and furnished no materials
or supplies ... We consider it fantastic in the face of our competitive
bid law, that such a scheme could
. . go so long udetected. We feel
that a major fraud has been perpetrated against the state."
State purchasing agent at the time
the highway striping purchase order
was issued was the Governor's brother, Maurice Patterson, whom Gov.
Patterson later promoted to the post
of state finance director. Gov. Patterson himself termed the striping
case reports "exaggerated, misrepresented and overcolored pure
politics," and allotted $21,000 ft
the Governor's emergency fund for
legal aid to his brother and other
state officials named in a civil suit
brought by the state's attorney general. Investigation of the striping
deal continues.
FOLSOM'S VIEW
Ironically, as attorney general, Gov.
Patterson had attacked certain
asphalt contracts, timber cutting
deals and state property leases arranged during the administration of
his predecessor, "Kissin' Jim" Folsom.
Fun-loving Gov. Folsom was certainly candid with the Alabama electorate. "Sure, I'll admit I did some
sealing while I was governor," he told
voters during a successful campaign
for a second term. "But the crowd
I worked with, the only way you
could get it was to steal."
From a spending standpoint, at
least, the Wallace years so far promise to be less flamboyant. "Gov. Wallace has a completely different philosophy," asserts a close political associate. "He's uncomfortable in expensive places, and when he's out for
dinner, he looks at the prices. If he
had a million dollars, he'd still order
a cheeseburger."
Breaking with the gubernatorial
tradition of being chauffeured home
to the white-columned executive
mansion for lunch in the Governor's
Cadillac, Gov. Wallace often eats
in the Capitol's basement cafeteria
with state employes. He is asking
the legislature to cut his office
budget and the funds he controls by
20%.
Wallace frugality, both personal
and public, should have appeal to
businessmen considering this industry-hungry state for plant sites. Still,
ther are many in the state who remember Alabama's bad publicity
when the Freedom Riders were
beaten by mobs here and in Birmingham, and the current Birmingham
demonstrations aren't easing matters.
Racial moderates fear serious violence if Gov. Wallace makes his I
promised stand against school de-
! seereeiation.
j "That's the one great sword of
Damoscles hanging over the Wallace
I administration," contends a North
I Alabama editor, echoine a view often
spoken privately in this state, "Wal-
! lace is an honest, temperate man.
If he doesn't blow the racial situation, he'll make this state an outstanding governor."

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u
Alabama Cleanup
Gov. Wallace Strives To Win National Respect
As He Awaits School Segregation Showdown;
Industry Should Be Attracted
Burt Schorr In The Wall Street Journal
MONTGOMERY, ALA. already has managed
J^ SYMBOL of change in Alabama:
A small, empty room in the offices of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, administrator of the stats
liquor monopoly.
. formerly contained
distillers marketing their products
in Alabama. Over the ABC's 26-year
history, this free booze flowed stead
squeeze
savings for taxpayers from
firms doing business with the state.
Consider these examples:
A company with a current contract
to supply around $1,000,000 of tires
for state vehicles recently agreed
with purchasing officials of the
ij„, , j.„(.,.;u„f i wnn purcnasing oinciais ui me new
Ki^M, administration that its price, ought
to c
ABC oSiclato legators and" hauI bottled foods from the ABC
"frienc^of0"1^
newly-appointed ABC Board banned »J 'o,7 reduced h'
Similar departures from precedent
have been shaking this birthplace of
the Confederacy ever since hard-
talking George C. Wallace took office
as governor in January.
Gov. Wallace's national reputation,
largely on his oratory
reduced his bid 1
lut another trucke
out with a still lower bid of 12.36e
a case, yielding an estimated annual
saving of $43,000.
A CURB ON YACHTING
Down at the state docks in Mo-
ile, one of the two well-appointed
to behallf o7"state?CrYghts 'and" white state /acthts has. been sold ai?d *ne
supremacy. During his campaign, he fc°nd /tripped 'or ""
repeatedly called a local federal judge b?at^„ "
who ordered voting records turned ?r *li"'
over to the Civil Rights Commission, ,nt
integrating, scalawagging,
a harbor
estimated annual saving
n operating costs. The
joy ride is also over for Alabama
officials who turned up regularly at
petbagging liar." And he continues football games and
to pledge that he will personally defy '"
court-ordered desegregation of publicly-supported educational institutions, even at the risk of federal ar-
For Alabamians, however,
short, cigar-smoking chief
seems to be the antidote for the
wheeling and dealing which so often
have marked past administrations in
this state.
Change Is needed in Alabama, Gov.
Wallace tells intimates, in order to
win national public support for the
showdown with the federal government on school desegregation, a
showdown that seems likely to come
during his administration. "We have
to keep our house in order," he says.
"The eyes of the country are going
to be on us with this federal thing
coming up." Though the Birmingham anti-segregation demonstrations
aren't what he has in mind, they
already are bringing the state some
national attention.
ADVICE TO CONTRACTORS
At the same time, it would be
unfair to ignore Gov. Wallace's personal interest in a cleanup here.
Even political enemies concede his
insistence on honesty at all levels
of state government is more than a
maneuver. Though some Alabamians
profess confidence the Alabama spoils
system will again flourish, a powerful legislator insists Gov. Wallace
tells campaign supporters seeking favored contracts with the state,
/You'll get the work—if you're low
bidder." When supporters protest, the
Governor reportedly advises them to
consider their campaign aid "a contribution to good government."
This attitude allegedly differs from
that of some past administrations.
Whether such allegations are true
or not, the Wallace administration
in their state autos; Gov, Wallace
has cracked down on such abuses and
furthermore ordered 1,000 of the
state's approximately 4,000 autos sold.
The Governor's campaign undoubtedly has won him new friends in
Birmingham and North Alabama industrial counties where voter opposition was strongest. "He has my
support on everything he's done,"
says a Birmingham oil firm executive who voted for the Governor's
opponent. "He,s carried through on
his promises so far, particularly with
regard to cutting down on unnecessary spending."
Even so, it would be dangerous to
predict public opinion of the Wallace administration four years hence.
"It's a fact of Alabama politics that
the governor is always more popular
in the first two years of his term
than the second," observes one veteran state house reporter.
For evidence of how a governor
may lose admirers, Gov. Wallace has
the recent example of his predecessor, John Patterson, whose last year
in office was marked by some embarrassing developments.
GRAND JURY REPORT
Foremost was the disclosure that
the state paid a Montgomery firm
$1,000,000 for highway striping while
nine state-owned highway marking
rigs stood idle. The striping payment
rate was estimated at three times the
striping cost of neighboring Mississippi, where state employes do the
work. Furthermore, the striping contractor owned no striping equipment,
but subcontracted nearly all the job
to another firm at around half the
price it was charging the state.
"From the evidence before us," reported a Montgomery County grand
jury which later indicted the prime
contractor for state income tax
evasion, "we are convinced that ap
proximately half a million dollars of
the taxpayers' funds have been paid
to individuals who performed
service and furnished no materials
or supplies ... We consider it fantastic in the face of our competitive
bid law, that such a scheme could
. . go so long udetected. We feel
that a major fraud has been perpetrated against the state."
State purchasing agent at the time
the highway striping purchase order
was issued was the Governor's brother, Maurice Patterson, whom Gov.
Patterson later promoted to the post
of state finance director. Gov. Patterson himself termed the striping
case reports "exaggerated, misrepresented and overcolored pure
politics," and allotted $21,000 ft
the Governor's emergency fund for
legal aid to his brother and other
state officials named in a civil suit
brought by the state's attorney general. Investigation of the striping
deal continues.
FOLSOM'S VIEW
Ironically, as attorney general, Gov.
Patterson had attacked certain
asphalt contracts, timber cutting
deals and state property leases arranged during the administration of
his predecessor, "Kissin' Jim" Folsom.
Fun-loving Gov. Folsom was certainly candid with the Alabama electorate. "Sure, I'll admit I did some
sealing while I was governor," he told
voters during a successful campaign
for a second term. "But the crowd
I worked with, the only way you
could get it was to steal."
From a spending standpoint, at
least, the Wallace years so far promise to be less flamboyant. "Gov. Wallace has a completely different philosophy," asserts a close political associate. "He's uncomfortable in expensive places, and when he's out for
dinner, he looks at the prices. If he
had a million dollars, he'd still order
a cheeseburger."
Breaking with the gubernatorial
tradition of being chauffeured home
to the white-columned executive
mansion for lunch in the Governor's
Cadillac, Gov. Wallace often eats
in the Capitol's basement cafeteria
with state employes. He is asking
the legislature to cut his office
budget and the funds he controls by
20%.
Wallace frugality, both personal
and public, should have appeal to
businessmen considering this industry-hungry state for plant sites. Still,
ther are many in the state who remember Alabama's bad publicity
when the Freedom Riders were
beaten by mobs here and in Birmingham, and the current Birmingham
demonstrations aren't easing matters.
Racial moderates fear serious violence if Gov. Wallace makes his I
promised stand against school de-
! seereeiation.
j "That's the one great sword of
Damoscles hanging over the Wallace
I administration," contends a North
I Alabama editor, echoine a view often
spoken privately in this state, "Wal-
! lace is an honest, temperate man.
If he doesn't blow the racial situation, he'll make this state an outstanding governor."